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The Howard B Bernick Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Howard B Bernick Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$750k
Granted FY2025still arriving
23
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$305k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$2.0MEducation$498kArts & Culture$490kHealth$349kPublic Safety & Disaster$142kInternational$106kHuman Services$103kPublic Benefit$102kOther$0
02FY2025 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k9 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $198k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $225k
  • $250k+1 grant · $305k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$3.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH UNITED FUND$305,000
SUNNYBROOK FOUNDATION$125,000
CAST WATER SAFETY FOUNDATION$100,000
TOWN OF PALM BEACH UNITED WAY$33,000
THE INNOVATE$25,000
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$25,000
THE BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION$25,000
IL HOLOCAUST MUSEUM & EDUCATION CENTER$18,000
PALM BEACH CIVIC ASSOCIATION$17,000
RAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTER$12,500
CAF AMERICA$12,000
MARINE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION$10,000
PRESERVATION FOUNDATION OF PALM BEACH$10,000
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$10,000
NORTON MUSEUM OF ART$5,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $76k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%LIVE LIKE JAKE FOUNDATION: $5k → 11%WFORUM: $2k → 6%LIVE LIKE JAKE FOUNDATION: $3k → 11%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 14%HOSPICE OF PALM BEACH COUNTY: $5k → 11%MORSELIFE FOUNDATION: $25k → 11%MORSELIFE FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%MORSELIFE FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%INVEST FOR KIDS: $3k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $3k → 14%CJE SENIORLIFE: $2k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
NY
OH
PA
CA
CO
KY
VA
MD
DC
AL
GA
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.2M · 37 repeat orgs$527k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +71% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

37 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

37
37

Total granted

$4.2M
$399k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+71%
+26%

Still filing today

76%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $128k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesInternationalEducationPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    5× · 2020–2025 · $1.5M · revenue +13%
  • TO
    Town of Palm Beach United Way Inc
    6× · 2020–2025 · $219k · revenue +54%
  • FM
    FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $185k · revenue +112%

Funded once

  • CH
    CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
  • CN
    CARDINAL NEWMAN HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2021 · $50k
  • SH
    SINAI HEALTH SYSTEMgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +26%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
2
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
3
University of Miami

See Form 990, Part I, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission.

Education
4
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
5
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute's mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn,…

Health
6
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
7
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
8
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
9
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
10
Weizmann Institute of Science

The weizmann institute of science, located in rehovot, israel, is one of the worlds top-ranking, multidisciplinary research institutions. at any one time, several thousand scientists, staff and students are involved in hundreds of research…

Science & Tech
11
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
12
Council On Foreign Relations Inc

The council on foreign relations (cfr) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and…

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Friends of Hebrew University Inc; the most unlike its peers is Cast Water Safety Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

56 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 56 of the 79 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
55/56
Grantees still filing
42/56
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $1,505,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGOCAST WATER SAFETY FOUNDATION: $595,000 · PhilanthropyCAST WATER SAFETY FOUNDATIONTown of Palm Beach United Way Inc: $218,500 · PhilanthropyTown of Palm Beach United Way Inc+2 more: $17,000 · PhilanthropyUPPER CANADA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $252,000 · OtherUPPER CANADA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDA…SUNNYBROOK FOUNDATION: $125,000 · OtherSUNNYBROOK FOUNDATIONNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $120,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATIO…CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO …RAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTER: $76,800 · OtherRAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTERIL HOLOCAUST MUSEUM & EDUCATION CENTER: $61,000 · OtherBNAI ABRAHAM-ZION CONGREGATION: $60,000 · OtherCARDINAL NEWMAN HIGH SCHOOL: $50,000 · OtherTHE INNOVATE: $50,000 · OtherALZHEIMER'S DRUG DISCOVERY FOUNDATION: $80,000 · OtherALZHEIMER'S DRUG DISCOVERY FOUN…MORSELIFE FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 · Other+36 more: $266,580 · Other+36 moreFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $185,000 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEU…The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach Inc: $75,000 · Arts & CultureThe Preserv…The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $75,000 · Arts & CultureThe United …NORTON MUSEUM OF ART INC: $31,250 · Arts & CultureNORTON MUSE…WEITZMAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY: $30,000 · Arts & CultureWEITZMAN NA…THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PALM BEACH COUNTY INC: $25,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $51,000 · Arts & Culture+7 moreBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $100,000 · InternationalAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $75,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $19,200 · InternationalWASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: $10,000 · International+2 more: $10,000 · InternationalThe Palm Beach Police and Fire Foundation Inc: $141,800 · Crime & LegalRECIPE FOR CHANGE: $17,500 · Crime & LegalPalm Beach Civic Association Inc: $119,000 · Community ImprovementMARINE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $62,500 · EducationLEXINGTON SCHOOL INC: $20,000 · EducationBROTHER RICE HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $18,000 · EducationBig Shoulders Fund: $10,000 · Education+1 more: $620 · Education
Philanthropy$2,335,500Other$1,286,380Arts & Culture$472,250International$214,200Crime & Legal$159,300Community Improvement$119,000Education$111,120

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $1,505,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCAST WATER SAFETY FOUNDATION: $595,000 over 6y, 19% of budgetTown of Palm Beach United Way Inc: $218,500 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $185,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Palm Beach Police and Fire Foundation Inc: $141,800 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetPalm Beach Civic Association Inc: $119,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DRUG DISCOVERY FOUNDATION: $80,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach Inc: $75,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMARINE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $62,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMORSELIFE FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetNORTON MUSEUM OF ART INC: $31,250 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWEITZMAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY: $30,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSINAI HEALTH SYSTEM: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PALM BEACH COUNTY INC: $25,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $19,200 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBROTHER RICE HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $18,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetRECIPE FOR CHANGE: $17,500 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetPALM BEACH COUNTRY CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $17,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetRonald McDonald House Global: $15,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $12,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDCARE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALL STARS PROJECT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNational Gallery of Art: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JONSSON CANCER CENTER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $8,600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLIVE LIKE JAKE FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $6,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInvest for Kids Inc: $5,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Musical Arts Association: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR INNER CITY EDUCATION DBA PARTNERSHIP SCHOOLS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAFRIKIDS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetBRAIN RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEndeavor Health Clinical Operations: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWellness House: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHospice of Palm Beach County Inc: $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN IRELAND FUND (DBA THE IRELAND FUNDS AMERICA/THE IRELAND FUNDS): $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Carol Bernick Family …Lavin Family Foundati…Jewish Federation of …The Chicago Community…John D and Catherine …Gs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…National Philanthropi…American Endowment Fo…Paypal Charitable Giv…The Bank of America C…
Carol Bernick Family FoundationIL17.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Carol Bernick Family Foundation · Lavin Family Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Howard B Bernick Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Howard B Bernick Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 110%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • Foundcare Inc: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
11get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Howard B Bernick Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Howard B Bernick Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 79 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Howard B Bernick’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home